Category: horse racing

‘Robin Bastiman has been banned from racing for three years and told he should be “deeply ashamed” after a disciplinary panel of the British Horseracing Authority found he had injected a horse with a substance containing cobalt on a day it was due to race.’

‘Tony Carroll said on Thursday that the collapse of a six-week fraud trial, which arose from a complaint he made against a former employee, was “a massive disappointment” to him and owners at his Worcestershire yard. The veteran trainer issued a categorical denial of “any suggestion that I directed the defendant’s activity”, which was the contention put forward by James Hamer’s defence team during the trial at Hereford crown court.’

‘A six-week racing-related fraud case has collapsed after a judge ruled material held by the police and the British Horseracing Authority had not been properly disclosed to the defence. The case arose out of a complaint by the trainer Tony Carroll that he had been defrauded by a former employee, James Hamer, but the defence contended that all relevant cash movements had been carried out at Carroll’s direction.’

‘The British Horseracing Authority brushed off an accusation of “poor regulation” from the National Trainers’ Federation on Wednesday over a new rule that requires trainers to declare wind operations on their horses, and it seems likely to irritate the NTF further by insisting trainers found guilty of a serious breach of the rule will risk the suspension of their licence.’

‘David Evans described as “very lenient” the fine of £3,000 meted out to him by racing’s ruling body after the trainer admitted he had delayed news of a non-runner in the hope of backing another horse in the same race at better odds. Evans staked £6,000 at 4-1 on Black Dave but lost his money when the horse, from his stable near Pandy in Monmouthshire, could finish only fourth.’

‘The Communities Secretary performed “a complete and unexplained volte face” in his assessment of the highways impacts of two proposals for development on the same site in Newmarket, a Planning Court judge has ruled.’

‘In recent years, there has been a seemingly unending string of cases relating to whether certain activities constitute trading. Ewan Leslie James McMorris v HMRC[1]is the latest case to consider the circumstances in which a taxpayer may deduct losses incurred from his other income under section 64, Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA).’

‘Afficionados of Sherlock Holmes will recall “The Adventure of Silver Blaze”, a tale of horse nobbling and dark deeds amidst the turf fanciers of late Victorian England. “Silver Blaze” (incidentally the only Holmes story to feature a deerstalker cap, and that only in an accompanying illustration) is a story in which the question of custody of the horse is all important, and is best known for the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. The curious incident is that the dog did nothing (it had been doped, using curried mutton – not a frequently encountered doping agent in modern sporting life) , and nothing is also what the rider of the horse did in Turner v British Equestrian Federation (SR/0000120209, 1 August 2014). Nothing wrong, that is.’

“A customer which as part of its business did betting on a betting exchange did not receive or negotiate bets so was not a bookmaker for the purposes of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 and was not liable to pay the horserace betting levy.”

“The reputation of the police force that claims to be the country’s elite antifraud unit was in tatters last night after the collapse of its cheating case against one of horse racing’s greatest talents.”

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